Outdoor Learning Conference 2025: Full Schedule

Welcome to the 2025 Outdoor Learning Conference

3:15pm MDT

Relations and Resilience: Intra-connecting with Land and Place through Hands-on Metaphor LIMITED

Thursday May 8, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT

What relations ground your practice? How are these relationships resilient? How do we interweave our connections to land and place in order to strengthen them? Join us to explore relationality and resilience in our educational lives by creating a hands-on metaphor representing our diverse pedagogical practices. Our session begins with dialogue as we share how we know what we know, and examine our own personal pedagogical ontology. Participants will intra-connect with land and place, and craft physical metaphors using both found and brought items that will represent our relationship building and resiliency practices. Our session closes with sharing and celebration, and considering steps for the journey to come.

Speakers

Alisa Paul

UBC

Alisa is a teacher educator in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, where she co-leads the Education for Sustainability teacher education cohort. Alisa Paul is working on her PhD in Learning Environments. She completed her M.Ed in 2019 at SFU in Ecological... Read More →

Patrick Robertson

UBC

Patrick is a teacher educator in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, where he co-leads the Education for Sustainability teacher education cohort. He also leads Syncollab Strategies, a consulting collaborative in B.C. working with a range of local, provincial... Read More →

Thursday May 8, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT
Otter

Health and Wellbeing Workshop, Health and Wellbeing

2:00pm MDT

The Power of a Relational, Values-Driven Approach to Building Adult Capacity for Outdoor Early Learning LIMITED

Friday May 9, 2025 2:00pm - 3:15pm MDT

Otter

From 2021-2023, the Lawson Foundation supported eight diverse projects working to build adult capacity to support outdoor early learning. The work targeted professional learning, early learning and child care programs, and multi-sector influencers of outdoor learning (e.g., Indigenous knowledge keepers, government officials, nonprofit partners). This workshop will share 4 Calls to Action based on taking a relational, values-driven approach to systems change. We will share our learning about effective approaches to foundational components of change-making: professional learning, outdoor learning spaces, parent engagement, and organizational policy change, and we will reflect on differences in how Indigenous ways were honoured in this work. We offer practical, actionable considerations to support early learning leaders (e.g., post-secondary faculty; early learning directors, managers, and pedagogical leaders) to gain a more nuanced understanding of change-making for outdoor learning.

Speakers

Christine Alden

Program Director / Fondation Lawson, Directrice de programme, Lawson Foundation

Christine Alden, M.Ed., Ph.D., has worked in the fields of early child development and education for thirty years. She began her career as an elementary teacher in Latin America, which catalyzed her interest in child development. Over the last twenty years, she has worked in early... Read More →

Friday May 9, 2025 2:00pm - 3:15pm MDT
Otter

Health and Wellbeing Workshop

3:15pm MDT

The Big Reconnect: How Innovative Outdoor Education Cultivates Connection to Self, Community, and Nature in K-12 Schools LIMITED

Friday May 9, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT

Otter

"Participants will inhabit the roles of teacher and student in an interactive outdoor learning experience using innovative technology and project-based learning to connect to self, community, and nature. Guided by Cornell Lab and Friends Academy educators, participants will engage in 21st century outdoor learning activities that spark connection, inquiry, research, and collaboration.

Participants will also learn about Cornell Lab’s K-12 Education Program and how it partners with schools like Friends Academy to build science skills in young people. Through its partnership with schools, the Cornell Lab inspires young people to connect to local habitats, explore biodiversity, and engage in participatory-science projects. This workshop will model and explore how the Cornell Lab partnered with Friends Academy, providing its educators with professional development in an inquiry-based approach to science, and partnering with students and teachers on a cutting-edge interdisciplinary project."

Speakers

Susan Licher

K-12 Education Learning Coordinator, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University

Susan Licher is the K-12 Learning Coordinator at Cornell Lab of Ornithology where she develops and delivers transformational training for educators that supports them in connecting students to nature, strengthens their skills in using participatory (citizen) science, and increases... Read More →

Daniel Mendel

Friends Academy

Daniel Mendel is the Dean of Innovation at Friends Academy. His work is focused on K-12 program development, innovative teaching and curricular design, and teacher support and training. Through pedagogical approaches such as problem-based learning and interdisciplinary project-based... Read More →

Jen Halliday

Jen Halliday is the Associate Head of School and Director of Academic Affairs at Friends Academy, where she plays a pivotal role in shaping the academic vision and ensuring the delivery of exceptional educational experiences for all students. With a deep commitment to fostering a... Read More →

Alana Kessler-Yudin

Alana Kessler-Yudin is the Forest Program Lead at Friends Academy, where she fosters outdoor learning experiences that connect students to nature and inspire personal growth. She holds an M.A. in Special Education with a focus on Arts Integration and a B.A. in Religious Studies from... Read More →

Friday May 9, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT
Otter

Environmental and Climate Change Education Workshop

9:45am MDT

From Fear to Fact: A Balanced View on Microplastics and Chemicals LIMITED

Saturday May 10, 2025 9:45am - 11:00am MDT

Otter

This workshop hopes to address fear-based reception about microplastics through a hands-on sample analysis with the Microplastics Educational Toolkit from Ocean Diagnostics. Guided by two Early Career Ocean Professional (ECOP) Microplastics Ambassadors with backgrounds in microplastics research and chemistry education, participants will learn from microplastics sources & impacts on the environment and human health.

Speakers

Isabella Liu

Science Teacher & Department Coordinator, Branksome Hall

Isabella Liu Branksome Hall Innovation & Technology Coordinator Isabella Liu is the Innovation & Technology Coordinator at Branksome Hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In this role, she supports K-6 digital learning & citizenship. A recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching... Read More →

Zoë Ungku Fa'iz

University of Toronto

Zoë is a masters student at the University of Toronto. Her eagerness to learn more about the harmful materials in our environment started with an internship with Ocean Uprise by Parley for the Oceans and a position as a field researcher with the U of T Trash Team’s Fighting Floatables... Read More →

Saturday May 10, 2025 9:45am - 11:00am MDT
Otter

Environmental and Climate Change Education Workshop

Outdoor Learning Conference 2025